DOLE Releases Revised Guidelines on Employment Preservation Upon the Resumption of Business Operation

On 9 September 2020, the Department of Labor and Employment (“DOLE”) released Labor Advisory No. 17-B revising the Guidelines on Employment Preservation Upon the Resumption of Business Operation. The said Labor Advisory supersedes Labor Advisory No. 17 issued on 18 May 2020.

The guidelines cover all employers and their employees in the private sector operating or allowed to operate under the community quarantine. It highly encourages employers to adopt work-from-home or implement telecommuting arrangements. Employers are also allowed to adopt alternative work schemes such as transfer, assignment, job rotation, reduction of workdays, partial closure, and other work arrangements including adjustment of wage and wage-related benefits of the employees, subject to applicable laws, rules and regulations, jurisprudence and collective bargaining agreements if any.

Notably, the guidelines omitted the following qualifications found in Labor Advisory No. 17: (1) the declaration that the alternative work schemes are temporary in nature and shall be adopted for as long as the Public Health Crisis exists; (2) the limitation that the adjustment in wage and/or wage-related benefits shall not exceed six (6) months or the period agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement if any; and (3) the mandate that after such period, employers and employees shall review their agreements regarding the adjustment in wage and/or wage-related benefits and may renew the same.

The guidelines also provide that employees who are separated from employment due to authorized causes shall be entitled to their final pay in accordance with Labor Advisory No. 6, series of 2020, without prejudice to other benefits provided by law, company policy and/or collective bargaining agreement.

Employers are mandated, under the guidelines, to report to the DOLE Regional Office having jurisdiction over their principal place of business, the adoption of alternative working schemes, and other work arrangements including the adjustment of wage and wage-related benefits of the employees. Together with the report, employers must submit duly certified copies of all agreements relating to the same, and/or accomplish establishment termination reports.  It must be noted that employers are now required to report the adjustment of wage and/or wage-related benefits to the DOLE, whereas Labor Advisory No. 17 did not provide for such requirement.

The guidelines also introduced a provision on dispute resolution, wherein any disagreement or difference arising from the implementation of the said Labor Advisory is mandated to be resolved under the applicable grievance mechanism of the company. If the establishment is unorganized and no grievance mechanism is in place, or the grievance mechanism is inadequate, any disagreement shall be referred to the appropriate Regional Branch of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board or DOLE Regional Office which has jurisdiction over the workplace, for conciliation. In the event that the disagreements or differences remain unresolved after going through the grievance mechanism or conciliation, the same shall be resolved in accordance with existing rules and regulations on the visitorial and enforcement power of the Secretary of Labor and Employment and his/her duly authorized representatives.